Now that we know World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will rend our social lives asunder on December 7th, it’s high time to take stock of the sweetest new stuff en route to Azeroth.
1. Worgen (And Goblins)
There’s no question in my mind that rolling a worgen is the first thing I’ll do when I fire up Cataclysm. I was lured to the shaman class with the promise of transforming into a translucentish wolf when the mood struck, and I’ve never looked back. And yeah…if abrasive, green-skinned money-grubbers are your thing, then you’ll probably find a lot to love with the newly playable goblin race.
2. Old World Facelift
Sure, we all love Azeroth as we know it, but leveling a new alt through the old world grind just to get to the newer content gets increasingly painful each time around. But come Cataclysm, the winds of change will blow across the old world, transforming everything from Orgrimmar to the Shimmering Flats (which are now happily underwater–I hate them). Not only will there be a slew of new quests and new zones, but the terrain and pretty much everything else will be made new thanks to Deathwing, WoW’s latest world-sundering mega-boss.
3. Updated Graphics
WoW’s an amazing, cutting-edge game for a lot of reasons, but the graphics have never been something to write home about. They’re pleasantly stylized and more than adequate for such an rich experience all-around, but one look at a polygonal, swiss cheese-esque leaf on an Eastern Kingdom tree and it’s apparent that the old world is hurting for a visual update.
4. New Race/Class Combos
As a rampant altoholic, new offerings for race and class combinations are right up my alley. Tauren paladin, please, with a side of Troll Druid.
5. Crazy Underwater Zones
While underwater zones traditionally inspire an acute type of full-body panic in me, the new underwater zones in Cataclysm look to buck the trend. And since you won’t have to scramble around for air bubbles to keep you from an untimely underwaterly death, there’s nothing to stand between you and a full-on naga massacre. Also, new underwater zones, like Vashj’ir, will shine with WoW’s long-awaited graphics improvements.
While these are 5 undeniably epic WoW changes, they barely touch the surface of what’s on the way to everyone’s favorite veritable black hole of an MMO. What are you hankering for come December 7th?
Worgen. Worgen. Worgen. That is all.
What great timing! In two other windows, I’m flipping out about the way my guild is being run, and here you are with a WoW post!
Goblins. Goblins. Goblins. If AS ever starts a Horde guild, you let me know.
we should strike up ye olde auto guild again when cataclysm hits, both alliance and horde-side. we just need a guild leader/officers who are more competent and reliable in-game than me!
I like the sound of this.
this is when we all put our hands in the middle and then say something in unison and raise them into the air, right?
“AutooooooooSTRADDLE!”
Seriously, though, I am so down with helping to (re)start a ‘Straddle guild, for either faction (though, admittedly, I’ve been playing Horde exclusively for the last two years). Would it be on Proudmoore?
Unfair stereotype!
Obviously, we should be on SISTERS of Elune. How much gayer can we get?
Fair enough!
Omg, I need to be a part of this guild.
No gearscore or DPS meters allowed in Guild ‘O Autostraddle. I demand that be put in the charter.
Also, everyone must run around in loincloths at every chance.
There’s an Autostraddle guild? Whaaattt what?!
WooooOOOoooo! *head explodes*
Worgen. Resto. Druid. Who will bitch and moan all the time about how all his friends mistake him for an outhouse. Oh yeah, I’m ready.
s.w., I kind of love you.
I’ve never played WOW but I like this post. I think it is primarily because I like you, Taylor. AND I HAVE MISSED YOU POSTING A WHOLE LOT.
December 7th?! What happened to the expansion coming out in November?! I think I might just die.
Clearly you haven’t been playing Blizz games for long! ;)
Does this mean new quests? Because I am SO BORED right now, and I hate Ashenvale and Darkshire and I’m not quite a high enough level for the Arathi Highlands.
I HATE BEING A LEVEL 38 (i think…)
Which server are you on? If it’s one I’ve got a toon on, I’ll come kill things for you :)
Caelestratz or something idk. It’s one of the Australia/Oceania servers. If you’ve got a toon, I will be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.
I’ve got a little gnome Death Knight from back when I went around claiming the name ‘Fingerblast’ on a bunch of servers :P
Send me a mail in game and let me know what times you’ll be online and I’ll be more than happy to come help :) I run on an Oceanic server too, so hopefully we’ll be in/around the same time zone.
Yay! I shall do that! Thank-you!
I am not excited for this. I’m not even a gamer. I feel like I’ve let autostraddle down… Please stop putting this emotional pressure on me. I’ll make you vegan cookies if you do!
DEAL
Then I’ll need an address to sta…I mean send cookies. Sure. Let’s go with that.
I am afraid because I quit this and I miss it so if I start up again would it be considered a relapse
Seriously I thought I was over WOW I really did. News of the new races tempted me. The idea of a legit holly cow made me giggle, screen shots of bad-ass troll druids that look like a cross between an 80’s care bears and a saber tooth tiger had me jonesing something fierce. Now I hear about an autostraddle guild. Crap, I guess the good news is Bliz still has my credit card on file.
WoW stole my sixteen year old brother. We had to have an intervention. That shit is like hard drugs and should come with a warning. /bitter.
Mine too :( He actually dropped out of high-school because of it. He’s a productive member of society now, but it was touch-and-go for a while there.
PSA: WoW is fun, it is not life. Thankyou.
You can WoW in moderation! My girlfriend and I used to fight about WoW ALL THE TIME because she’d come home from work and just get stuck in the game what with the raiding and such. Finally when I all but said “It’s raiding or me,” she stepped it waaaay back and everything’s fine again! She just doesn’t raid. I honestly think raiding is the problem. (And whenever people try to get her to raid again, she says, “No. I’m like an alcoholic. I can’t do it at all or I’ll be doing it every night.” lol)
Yep, it’s the raiding. Our guild is currently in a bit of a crisis because the serious raiders are getting upset that us casual players aren’t online to raid ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT AS SOON AS THEY CLICK THEIR FINGERS.
Raiding bored me to be honest, I’d rather play with my engineering toys :)
bored me too/gave me social anxiety. i mainly roam around, compulsively play the auction house and change my hair style. also bgs.
She was a guild officer for a while and she had this idea that if she wasn’t on every raid ever, then she’d LET THE TEAM DOWN OMG!!!! But when it started getting in the way of, you know, grocery shopping and generally leaving the house…
What is the appeal of video games?
Community, friends. I have a lot of friends that play, and when we can’t meet up ‘irl’ we get online and play.
i don’t play video games EXCEPT MARIO KART, but this question made me LOL because i feel like you are being the technostraddle equivalent of the guy who rants about G-d making it clear that marriage is between a man and a woman on a prop 8 post.
I asked because people commented that it’s like drugs, they “quit” it, etc. I actually got a Pong chip and made the game with a circuit board and components a few years ago, but the appeal was in making it. Ed says it is a social thing.
I agree that it’s a social thing. Running around with my guild whilst making fun of each other on vent/skype is some of the most fun I’ve had with my pants off.
I did get addicted to The Sims once but that was an anti-social thing. But it’s a computer game so I don’t know if that counts.
The most useful theory I’ve seen about why people get hooked on gaming in general (as opposed to e.g. WoW specifically) is because in games you can see what you need to do to get to the next level, and then you do it, and you get that sense of accomplishment and defined progress that can be really hard to achieve in your day job/ everyday life where everything’s a muddle.
For me, it’s fun to get absorbed in an imaginary world after a long day at work/school/whatev. I get the same kicks from reading or watching movies/TV, but games are more interactive.
Also, what is the object of World of Warcraft?
Depends on what you want to do. It’s not really like a traditional game where you can “win” because there’s always new content coming out. But you can try and get a whole lot of fancy gear from dungeons, do player-vs-player and rack up a lot of honor points or just try and see how many low level characters you can make (which is generally how I play the game)…
FLYING MOUNTS IN AZEROTH!!!
That is all….
(also I’ve been busting a gut to get my main to 80 because I thought I only had to Nov, damn you Blizzard!)
Old world Azeroth I meant obvs duh. Kalimdor/Eastern Kingdoms. Gonna make getting the ‘Explorer’ title so much easier, so they’ll probably nerf that >.<
oh god, WoW. Can’t play that.
I have, uh, issues with mmorpgs. Probably the bestified way to put that. I HAVE to win. I’ve actually managed to avoid WoW like the plague, because I KNOW what would happen if I started.
but the rest of you guys have awesome fun!
gamerwidow.com
We have the stomach knots brought on by underwater adventuring in common, Taylor!
I have not played WoW in almost a year. I got bored and decided to play EQ2 again with my girlfriend. I am now getting bored of EQ2 so probably going to go back to WoW for awhile after Cataclysm. I am rolling a Worgen! I like to play casually, but do like being in a guild that raids as long as it isn’t mandatory, eat-away-your-life, 6 hour marathon raids 5 nights a week! Underwater zones are scary! I am an old school gamer and remember the horrors of Kedge Keep in original Everquest! I am looking forward to this new expansion and hope I can pull my girlfriend away from EQ2 to come play with me. :)
What servers are you all on? I’m on Llane, but willing to move if there’s going to be an AutoGuild.
I play WoW on the gametime cards only, to force myself to have a break. If I didn’t, there’d be trouble. Crazy-addicting.
Right now I’m on “break time”. So I haven’t played in about 2 months and won’t ’til Cata.
But I also don’t really do the raiding thing. Too much pressure, too much time. Plus, there are only so many 11 year-old potty mouth control freaks I can handle. I’ll occasionally pop into bg’s but for the most part I just knock out achievements and play the AH.
I have toons on Proudmoore and don’t even remember their names. lol (Cairne, here)
Oh my god. Autostraddle has a guild?
What server/Faction?
I’d happily transfer one of my toons to be in such a guild :)
It was Alliance on Proudmoore, or something similar, I can’t quite remember. Not much has happened with it in a while, hopefully we can get it up and running again :)
Whoa Ok I tried to put in the guild name, but less-than greater-than signs must be an html thing :P
It was Flannel Confederacy or something similar is what I was trying to say.
For those on the Euro servers who are unable to join the AutoGuild, there’s the option of rolling a char on Hellscream and joining Hand of Aphrodite, a cool queer guild. I’m really a horde kinda gal, but this guild made me roll an alliance char just so I could join. :)
Heh me too, FOR THE HORDE!!!!!